How to Get Rid of an Ear Worm?

Have you ever had the situation when you hear a song and it happens to stay in your head for a few hours? If yes, then you will be interested in the results of the research conducted by the scientists from Western Washington University, who managed to find a way to get rid of the haunting melody.

An experiment was conducted with the help of volunteers. They were asked to perform various tasks accompanied by the background sounding of The Beatles, Lady Gaga and Beyonce songs. It turned out that passing mazes drawn on paper does not help to throw the song out of one’s head, but Sudoku gave a good result. However, when the puzzle was too difficult, the effect was reduced to zero.

The best result was demonstrated by the word anagrams of five letters and reading interesting books.

When we do something automatically, for example, we walk down the street or drive a car, we do not use the cognitive ability of the brain, so the internal player can start playing at any time.

The same thing happens in case we are concentrating hard on something. The brain can not cope with the task, so the melody returns. Here you need to find a middle ground, an occupation that will be difficult enough, but not an impossible one to accomplish. According to Ira Hyman, the author of the study and a music psychologist, it should be determined individually for each person.